A key part of your electronics kit is a good soldering iron, I’ve wasted money on cheap useless soldering irons but eventually I found a good temperature adjustable, lcd display with plenty of different tips available brand.
I have picked soldering stations, portable irons and standard soldering irons in this list. There are a few standard features that I always look at
1. Temperature adjustable – including the minimum and maximum temperatures
2. LCD display – so you can see the temperature you have set it to.
3. Soldering iron tips – is there a good source of replacement tips and a variety of different tips for different jobs
So on with the selection
JCD Soldering iron kit
This is an adjustable temperature 220V 80W LCD solder iron
Specifications: Voltage: AC220-240V OR AC100-130V Power: 80W
Frequency: 50Hz/60Hz
Temperature Range: 180~500 Celsius /356~932 fahrenheit Temperature Stability: ±5%
This is a nice little handheld soldering iron with display built into the handle, as well as the soldering iron you get 5 different ceramic tips. You get a small tool kit with a desolderin tool, tweezers, basic stand and sponge and a case.
Link
60W/80W Electric soldering iron temperature
110V/220V 45W YIHUA Soldering Station
Specifications: Voltage: AC 220 V Power: 24V 60W
Frequency: 50Hz/60Hz
Temperature Range: 392°-896°F (200°C- 480°C) Temperature Stability: ±5%
This soldering station comes with a few options, just the basic station or with add ons. The add ons include
12 solder tips
6 tweezers
1 heat element
2 solder wire
1 solder wick
1 sponge
1 knife with blade
1 suction pen
1 phone open tool kit
Link
EU/US Plug 110/220V HAKKO 936 Soldering Station
Soldering Station with BGA Rework Solder Station
If you want to start working with smd components then this is a fine introductory solder station. It comes with a 750w hot air gun and a 60w soldering iron, you can also control the temperature on both of these which is then displayed on an LCD display for easy reading
Hot Air Gun
Output Power : 750w
Temp Stability : ± 1’C
Fan : Brushless ball
Airflow : 120L/min(max)
Noise : <45dB
Temp Control : 100~450’C
Soldering Hot Iron
Output Power :60 W
Temp Stability : ± 1’C
Temp Control : 200~480’C
Once again there are several options available which can give 10 soldering iron tips, solder , solder braid and a variety of other useful tools. Th etruly staggering part is costs $30 (not including shipping)
TS100 Mini Portable Smart Programmable Electric Soldering Iron
A very handy portable soldering iron that you can take with you. It still has a digital display where you can see the temperature and its also easy to set the temperature up and down to whatever you want.
Specs
Output Power: 65W
Temperature Stability: ± 2 degrees Celsius
Output Temperature: 100-400 degrees Celsius
Input Voltagle: 12-24V
Not as many add on items with this one, you can get solder in one kit and an extra power adaptor in another. There are many soldering iron tips available but these have to be bought seperately – a kit with all of tehse and the iron would have been good but I just orderd them seperately. No big deal.
This iron comes in at $60
TS100 Mini Portable Smart Programmable Electric Soldering Iron
Jabe UD-1200 Precision Lead-free Soldering Station
A professional soldering station this one, there a re a few tips available. One advantage of this soldering station is that it heats up to the desired temperature very quickly.
Specs
Output Power: 130W
Output Voltage: 16V+16V
Range of Temperature: 50°-520°
Max Ambient Temperature: 40°
Temperature Stability: ±2°/Without air flow and no load
Jabe UD-1200 Precision Lead-free Soldering Station